Safety Officials Fine BART For Workers' Deaths

Workplace safety officials fined a San Francisco Bay Area commuter rail line $210,000 on Thursday over the deaths of two of its workers on tracks.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit agency workers - Christopher Sheppard, 58, and Laurence Daniels, 66 - were not qualified to do the track inspection work they were performing, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health said.

Cal OSHA also found a trainee was at the controls of the train that struck the men, and a procedure in effect to keep the workers safe was inadequate.

BART said Sheppard and Daniels were working under a practice that made them solely responsible for their safety. The agency later changed those rules, requiring trains to slow down, stop or change course as they approach track workers.

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